COURTESY NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
KP2, the abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup rescued on Kauai, weighed in yesterday at 55 pounds, up from 41 pounds on May 29, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Kewalo Research Facility on Oahu. When a pup is weaned, it normally weighs from 150 to 175 pounds, a NOAA spokeswoman said.

Pup makes daily progress

Orphaned monk seal: officials optimistic but cautious

More than a month after a baby Hawaiian monk seal was abandoned by his mother on Kauai, marine mammal experts say the pup continues to improve but will remain in captivity indefinitely.

"We're pleased with his progress, but we're still being optimistically cautious because he has a long way to go," said Wende Goo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokeswoman.

The male pup, identified by marine experts as KP2, was found on May 2 on the North Shore of Kauai. KP2's mother rejected him and responded aggressively when NOAA specialists attempted to reintroduce the two.

COURTESY NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
KP2 appeared bright and active yesterday at NOAA's Kewalo facility.

"It's safe to say, if that pup had stayed in that area, it would have perished," David Schofield, NOAA's marine mammal response coordinator, said in a May 6 interview with the Star-Bulletin.

KP2 has been under quarantine at the NOAA Fisheries Kewalo Research Facility on Oahu ever since.

"This is uncharted territory because we have never brought a seal that young in before. So our partners, the Marine Mammal Center, are the experienced ones and they're helping," Goo said.

At 55 pounds and growing every day, KP2 is beginning to show his first teeth.

"He swims, he eats and that's his day," Goo said.

COURTESY NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Officials say the pup loves swimming in the pool and does so several times a day, but they remain cautious about the seal's chances of survival.

Despite gaining 22 pounds since May 8, there are no immediate plans to release KP2 into the ocean, Goo said.

"We do know that, in the wild, when a pup is weaned he weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to 175 pounds," she said.

Since the 1950s, the Hawaiian monk seal population has dwindled by 60 percent to an estimated 1,200 and is considered an endangered species. Marine mammal experts are taking KP2's progress in stride.

"He still has a long way to go, gaining weight," Goo said.

The pup's possible release date will all depend on how quickly he gains weight, while experts continue to closely monitor his health.